The instant invention relates to a device for cleaning metal objects. More specifically, the invention relates to a burner which is used to remove, by incineration, grease and other undesirable materials adhering to the object to be cleaned, while effectively controlling the level of pollutants emitted into the atmosphere. The burner features a removable object-carrying basket to facilitate placement and removal of objects in the burner. This description will deal primarily with burners specifically designed to clean cylinder heads. However, it should be appreciated that the invention has other applications which will become evident as this description continues.
Devices are known which may be used to elevate the temperature of a cylinder head which has been removed from an internal combustion engine thereby to remove grease and other foreign materials which adhere to the head. However, such devices are generally energy inefficient and additionally cause the introduction of unacceptable quantities of pollutants into the atmosphere. Generally, a cylinder head must be secured in the device, heated, and, after sufficient time has passed for the head to cool, removed from the device.
An object of the instant invention is to provide a cylinder head burner which is energy efficient.
Another object of the invention is to provide a cylinder head burner which does not emit unacceptable levels of pollutants into the atmosphere.
A further object of the invention is to provide a cylinder head burner which may be easily loaded and unloaded.
Another object of the invention is to provide a head-carrying basket for use in a cylinder head burner which will carry multiple cylinder heads for cleaning and which allows removal of cylinder heads from the cylinder head burner without the necessity of waiting for the heads to cool below their treatment temperature.
Another object of the invention is to provide a cylinder head burner which is easily and inexpensively manufactured and which is easy to maintain and is operable by persons with little training.
The cylinder head burner of the instant invention includes a forced air gas burner which directs a hot gas stream over an object to be cleaned in a burning chamber. The burning chamber includes a burner pipe for evenly distributing the gas stream throughout the chamber. An object-carrying basket is removably mounted in the chamber. A pollutant reduction chamber is connected to a burning chamber outlet and is constructed to reduce the content of pollutants in the gas stream which are subsequently released into the atmosphere.
These and other objects and advantages of the instant invention will become more fully apparent as the description which follows is read in conjunction with the drawings.